A retired bodyman made me rethink how I do filler work

Was talking to this old timer named Walt last week at the NAPA in Tulsa. He said I was laying filler way too thick and wasting time sanding. Told me he used to do whole quarter panels with less than a sixteenth of an inch and block it flat in one pass. I tried his method on a 2012 Civic today and cut my dry time by almost half. Has anyone else here gotten advice from a veteran that just made you stop and think about your own process?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_blair9d ago

Man that Walt sounds like a real treasure trove of knowledge, doesn't he? I had a similar experience a few years back with this old guy named Ray who worked on nothing but Mopars his whole life. He showed me how to use a longboard on a hood I was ready to give up on, and I swear it changed everything for me. It's crazy how those old school guys can do so much more with so much less material, and they make it look easy too. I think we get so caught up in using the latest products and gadgets that we forget the basics can save us time and money. Really cool that you got to learn from a veteran like that, it's the kind of advice you just can't get from a YouTube video.

bettywilson9d ago

Used to think new tools were everything, but man that changed my mind quick!

amyh219d ago

Betty, question for you - what was the tool that finally made you realize that? Was it like a specific gun or a brand of compound, or just the whole mindset shift of seeing someone work without all the fancy stuff? I ask because I had a similar moment when I was trying to get a candy paint job right on a fender and kept messing it up with my expensive new sprayer. Then this old timer named Frank walked over, grabbed a can of rattle can clear and just laid it down perfectly in like two minutes flat. Made me feel like a fool for spending all that money on stuff I didn't know how to use properly yet.